Crest of the Hero
by sunwraith
Summary: Thrown into another world, Tai and Agumon are stuck trying to find a way home. But will the war between the nation's he's in keep him trapped there forever? Or will something else change his mind into staying?
1. First Journal Entry

AN: Well this is a story I'm picking up, well just for a person whose sparked my mind a bit. I'll continue it just to see how far I can go. The pairing is will be Taiora or Michi, I mean as the story goes both will appear and there will be a pole later on to see how you guys, the readers want it to end. There will be other pairings too, so for all you shippers out there don't fret. I would like to thank **Dusk-03** for letting me use this idea.

**Ages of the people:**

Tai, Sora, Matt- 18

Izzy, Mimi- 17

Joe- 19

TK, Kari- 15

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON**

_Journal Entry 28th Day of the First Month, of Lord Yggdrasil_

_I think I'm going crazy actually listening to that old coots advice. Write in a journal he says, it will help you out remember things he says. Bah! That old far is a crazy man who smells of booze and dirt. But I can't really hate him. He's been the one who's been helping since I've arrived in this awful world in which I had no clue about._

_Two years to this day I've lived here, two years away from home, two years since I was I went on that damn mission that landed me here in this predicament. Two years without my family and friends. It has been a long time, longest time since I've been away from home. Not even my first time in the Digital World was that long. _

_The only thing I have left from that world and MY own, are my goggles and my partner and best friend, Agumon. If anything he's the only one who had kept me sane throughout our entire time here, wherever it is we're at. No, I can't say that. I forgot that I can finally call it by it's true name. It took awhile since I loathed this place with a passion ever since I came here, but that changed as well._

_This world is called Pantheon. Whoever thought of that name was sure full of themselves, I mean seriously? Pantheon? I may suck at all things learning and all that type of stuffs, but I was into mythology. Whoever though of this wanted to consider the people or who ever ran the world gods. Egotistical much? Whatever. The world, as what people know it, is made of lots a few continents. Five major ones and a few smaller ones. The five big places have these big kingdoms to go along with them, along with smaller towns and cities. To the North there is the Kingdom of the Dusk, to the West there's the Empire of the Daybreak, to the East there's the Nation of Seas, finally to the South there is the Kingdom of Vermillion. In the middle continent there is the final kingdom: The Kingdom of Twilight. Flashy names aren't they? It feels like I'm back in the medieval times where kings and emperors ruled the world, but here its real._

_From what I've learned during my stay in this world is that everyone here is in constant war against one another. It's not a pretty sight. I saw some battles before. The digimon were deleted and the humans...they're probably in a better place now. What I can't believe is that the made a school to teach these kids on how to go to war against each other! That is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard. Sadly though it makes sense. People need to fight in this war, or else a lot more people will die, but does that justify losing one family member? Families are destroyed because of this stupid war. Twilight decided to stay neutral throughout the entire thing, so there less bloodshed, but still people are dying there as well. The war seeps over onto this continent as well, since it is the largest battle grounds the nations have in between all of them._

_Man, I need to get to a less mopey subject. Uh...What should I write about? Well, let's start where I live. I live in a small village in the central continent called Link. It's relatively close to the Castle of Twilight, but is close to some battle fields as well. Agumon and I live with an old man, we call him Lan, as well as partner Fridgimon. We're not the only ones here though. Lan takes care of orphans on the street. Most of those kids see me as an older brother, which in turn make me miss Kari. I wonder how she's doing? And going with that, how about everyone else?_

_I'm getting sidetracked, back to how my life here is. Let's see what else do I have to say? Oh yeah! Lan had taught me how to fight. That was pretty cool. I learned how to box and wrestle, as well as use a sword. I also learned how to sail a boat, ride a horse, hunting for food, COOKING that food. I can't remember all of what I had learned seeing as I use them almost daily to survive sometimes._

_They have ships that fly too. They are literally ships with either a balloon or a propeller to fuel them. So it's like our airplanes, but so old school. I heard that some digimon help to power it sometimes. Though I wonder, what other type of technology is here because some digimon are more advanced tech-wise than others. Like Datamon..._

_I found out that digimon can't digivolve here. Now that was a shocker. I meant they were BORN as a mega or ultimate. Depending on where your digimon was determine how you stood amongst the people. The stronger the digimon the higher nobility you are. Most of the peasants usually only have rookies, in-training or fresh so they aren't even worth any of the Kingdom's time, except for foot soldiers...or cannon fodder. That's not the biggest shocking thing though. As I spent more time here, I found something rather disturbing. All of my family and friends are here, but not really. You get what I mean? Oh wait you don't, you're just a dumb journal I'm writing in. Man I have to stop talking to myself when I write. But yeah, my family and friend's have doubles here. Though I haven't spoken to any of them because THEY ARE ALL ROYALTY! I can't get near them with a ten foot pole or the freaking guards will be after my ass. Though they all have different names here. Izzy was called Koushiro, Joe was Jou, Matt was Yamato...and a whole bunch of other people. _

_At least Sora and Mimi kept their names. I found out that my sister's double is called Princess Hikari of the Noble Kingdom of Light. A sister or so of the main Kingdom of Twilight. I accidentally found that out when I bumped into her. Her eyes widened and thought I was someone she knows, or rather knew. She had her guards come after me so I had to run. When I asked Lan about it, he told me that I looked like the Princess' old boyfriend, Taichi. Now that sent a nasty shiver down my spine. The Tai here wasn't even related to her and dated my sister's look alike...oh god I think I'm going to puke just thinking about that again. Ugh...back on track. When I asked Lan where this Taichi guy was, the old man told me that he died. Died as the "Hero of the New Age." That his partner and a Mega of unknown origin had stopped the previous war a few years back. Giving the world peace for two years. I-_

"Tai!" a voice shouted. A boy with wild bushy brown hair looked up from the table he was sitting at writing. A candle was his only source of light. He was wearing a brown tunic underneath a grey vest. Brown pants adorned his legs, as well as muddy brown boots. His chestnut eyes was looking at his partner, a four foot orange lizard with green eyes. Three white claws on both his arms and his feet. The boy named Tai, smiled at his partner.

"Is it time to go already Agumon?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, the festival is about to start now Tai," Agumon told him.

"Give me a moment to finish this entry and let's go." Agumon nodded and Tai turned back to his journal.

_Well, due to my partner's little interruptions I had totally forgotten what I was going to say. Before I go I'll just say that I will find my way home, but until then I might as well live my life here._

_Tai Kamiya_

Closing the journal Tai stood up, and placed it inside a drawer in the room next to his bed. Walking over to a chair Tai took a brown cloak and tied it around his neck. Putting up the hood he walked next to his partner, now standing a foot and a half taller than it. "Let's go buddy. This festival should be good. Agumon nodded and they stepped out of the room and into the world.

O

AN: READ AND REVIEW FOLKS. I WANT TO KNOW IF THIS SHOULD STAY A SMALL STORY OR NOT.

**NEXT TIME ON CREST OF THE HERO: The Festival, the Princess of the Sky and the Crest of Courage.**


	2. Festival

AN: I had a hard time thinking of this chapter up. But let me answer some of your reviews.

**Kamen Rider DIBRAVE: **Thanks

**TheOtherGuy4544: **Lord Yggrasil is the god of the digital world in many cases, so I decided that he would be considered god in this one as well. Lan is Tai's caretaker when he arrived in this dimension. Gennia, well I'll reveal the situation on them soon. And yeah I know there are spelling mistakes, I usually don't find them unless I'm reading the story myself.

**Genesis Paladin:** Thanks for the review.

**I AM YOU:** Well, here's your next update.

**chm01:** I still have the main pairing up for grabs really. Though I want to focus on a Sora and Tai relationship first, and slowly put Mimi in to spice things up.

**Animeguy1101:** Well I'll keep the story as interesting as I can compared to NMAC and Digital Ninja. As for the whole Agumon being stronger thing...I'll keep that a secret.

**gamerjamc:** I'm not really going to tell you what the pairing will be just yet.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON OR IT'S CHARACTERS. THE PLOT IS MINE HOWEVER.**

Tai walked out of the cottage he was staying in, with Agumon by his side. Looking around he noted on how the little village reminded him of those old cottages back in the European history books back at school. They were all made of wood and stone, and were fairly small. "Still can't believe that it's been two years to this day, that I've been here," Tai whispered to himself. Next to him Agumon looked up at his partner and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Let's go Tai. The walk to the Castle of Light and it's town is going to take thirty minutes," Agumon told the boy. "If we don't get there soon, we won't be able to buy any food!"

"It's not all about food Agumon. We're going to play some games too, and get some toys for the kids back at home at home," the wild haired boy told his partner.

"Right! The orphans can't come since it's going to be a far walk right?"

"Not that far, only 30 minutes for us. The kids won't be able to handle that kind of boring walk we are going through." The two then began to walk with each other down a road.

"Yeah but look at all those people walking with us," Agumon motioned towards all the people and digimon walking with them. Their neighbors and several village people who owned shops were all walking towards the city looming over a hillside. "I mean all our neighbors are going too."

"If we had enough money we could bring the kids with us," the browned hair boy sighed. "It would be a nice experience for them to go to the fair. I guess they'll have to wait until they are older I guess." As the two walked down the road, they made small talk about anything they can think about. From how the girls in the village all fawned over Tai's looks (this made Tai shudder in fear), Agumon's countless mishaps with the orphans they lived with (significantly the pudding incident that happened just a week ago, which should not be mentioned ever again) to random things like the weather and what to expect at the festival this year. As the minutes went on, the two walked over a hill and came to see something off in the distance.

"Well, here we are," Agumon stated looking at the walled city in front of them.

Tall walls composed of stone and Chrome Digizoid stood a short walk from the hill top the duo stood at. Looming over it was a majestic looking white castle, with looming towers and spires. From afar the two could make out several different stained glass windows, all large enough for digimon to fly through. Safe to say it was a rather magnificent sight to see. Around the castle was the city where most the celebration takes place. Tai could see balloons, streamers and other festive displays from on top of the hill side. "Let's go. We got a day of celebration, and a day long to win toys for all the kids back home. All six of them." As he took forward, Agumon grabbed Tai's hand. "What's wrong?"

"Did you forget what happened last time?" the digimon asked him. Tai's eyes widened and nodded his head.

"Yeah, I didn't forget. Don't want another run in with Princess Hikari huh?" Tai took a red ribbon from the pocket of his the ribbon on his mouth, he then began to mat his hair and grabbing some on the back of his head. After getting about two handfuls of it, holding the hair with one hand, he took the ribbon and tied his hair into a ponytail. The front of his hair was still rather messy and wild, but the part he tied off looked like a fuzzy dog's tail. Putting up the hood of his cloak, he nodded towards his partner and they walked towards the main gates.

0

Within the castle sat a girl with straight, chin length chestnut hair. She was wearing an elegant pink gown tailored with rubies and diamonds. Her hands were adorned with elbow length light pink silk gloves, and a top her head was a small crown. Her chocolate eyes looked out her window as she stared at the festivities down below. She was seated in a lavishly decorated room, with a large four poster bed, a wardrobe and an assortment of toy digimon al over her room. "I wish I can go down there," the girl mumbled to herself.

"Don't worry about it Hikari," a feminine voice replied. Princess Hikari turned around and looked at the white cat on two legs spoke to her. There was some purple fir on some of the cats body, namely the tail and tips of her ear and yellow gloves on the paws she wasn't on. Her large blue eyes met with the brown eyes of the princess. The cat frowned when she saw the princess pouting.

"I don't mean like that Gatomon," the princess sighed. "I don't want to go down there with all the guards, and people bowing to me all the time. I just want to go there and experience the festival like a normal girl." The cat walked towards her and rubbed the girl's arm. They were silent for a moment before Hikari spoke up. "Do you think _he_ will be there this year?"

"He?" her partner asked confused.

"That boy we bumped into last year. The one...the one that looked like...Taichi." The end came out as a whisper. Gatomon's frown became deeper. It seemed that even after two years, the girl she has been partners with her whole life still hasn't moved on from the death of her deceased love. Two years ago to this day was the death of Taichi Yagami, the hero of the world who gave up his life to save the world from an invading army of dark digimon. Even the other major kingdoms of every other island had come under his command to stop the Dark Kingdom. Gatomon stopped thinking about it, and stared at her partner.

"The person who you saw is not Taichi. It's just some look alike. You remember he ran away from you when you tried to get near him last time."

"But..."

"Hikari, that boy is not the one you love. He is someone else. So stop thinking about him." The two stopped talking when they heard a knock on the door.

"You may come in." A servant came in and bowed.

"My lady, the princess of Sky Kingdom has arrived," the servant told the two. "She is waiting in the throne room, talking to your parents." Hikari's face suddenly brightened up and a smile graced her face.

"I haven't seen Sora in ages." Hikari stood up and headed out the door, Gatomon following behind her. As they walked through the castle halls, they looked at the various paintings and banners placed all over the walls. Soon enough, the small group had arrived in the largest room in the castle: the throne room. The ceiling of the room was so high, Hikari guessed a few large mega levels could fit in this room. Along the sides of the walls were armored guards and several Knightmon, who as their name suggested looked like knights.

In front of the far wall were two large thrones, and in those thrones were two browned haired people. One looked like an older version of Hikari, but with shoulder length hair, and next to her was her husband with straight chin length hair, like Hikari herself. The woman was dressed in a large purple gown, that was as just or more elegant as Hikari's gown. Her husband had on a purple coat over a gold dress shirt and white pants. On both of their heads were large crowns. Stand next to the queen was a human looking digimon with blond hair, and clothed in white leather. Though most of what she wore left nothing to imagination, for it was more like a bathing suit than anything else. She had eight wings, for on each side, and a large pink scarf. Her face was covered by a metal helmet. Next to the king, was a small armored figure. It was made of white and gold amor, and had a black metal stash on the front of the helmet. It had a large gold crown and scepter. Behind it, the digimon had a flowing purple cape. "Father and mother, good morning to you today." The princess did a small bow out of courtesy.

"Good morning to you Hikari," the queen smiled at her daughter.

"Good morning Kingchessmon, Angewomon."

"Good morning princess," both greeted at the same time.

"Daughter look who came to visit," the king motioned to the right side of the room. Hikari turned to where the king was motioning and her smile brightened. Standing in front of a stained glass window was an auburn haired girl who's hair just reached passed her shoulder. She wore a sky blue dress, that had folds around the top, giving it a feathered look. She had a small tiara on her head that gleamed in the sunlight that entered through the window. On hands were bracelets, with a stylized heart dangling off of them.

"Sora!" Hikari ran up to her long time friend and hugged her, who hugged her back with as much enthusiasm.

"It is good to see you Hikari," the princess of the sky replied. When someone cleared their throat, the girls stopped their hug and saw Gatomon looking at them impatiently. "Don't worry Gatomon, I didn't forget about you." Sora gave the small digimon a hug, which was eagerly returned.

"Where's Garudamon?" the little cat asked.

"She's roosting at the large tower right now. She wanted to see you."

"Got it! I'll see you two later." The two humans watched the little cat run off and giggled.

"I know you two have a lot to catch up on," the king stated, getting the two girl's attention, "so you two can talk in Hikari's room, while we get the royal guards ready for you to visit the celebration." Sora saw her friend frown for just a second before it disappeared.

"Let's go to your room now Hikari," Sora suggested with a smile. Nodding her head, Hikari lead them back towards her room.

0

Tai and Agumon were standing in front of a booth with smiling faces. They had barely spent any of the money they had brought and they already had six toys they knew the kids back at the little cottage back in their village would love. Currently they were trying to win something for their caretaker Lan. "So all I have to do is get this ball," Tai motioned to the piece of rubber at his feet, "into that net," he then pointed at a net about twenty feet away, "without my hands in 15 seconds?"

"Yes, that is all you have to do," a large yellow teddy bear styled digimon replied (Monzaemon). "You only get one shot at it too." The smile on Tai's face seemed to widen, threatening to split his face. Tai gave the man a copper coin and got ready for the challenge. Monzaemon flipped over an hourglass, starting the game. Tai kicked the ball with upward over his head before turning around. When his back was turned he jumped up, and did a back wards bicycle kick on the ball, sending it into the net. The crowd watching him clapped as he landed on his feet.

"Heh I still got it," Tai smirked, reminiscing his old soccer skills. He snapped out of his thoughts when Monzaemon asked him what he wanted. Tai looked over the small selection of prizes before frowning. "Hey Agumon, what do you think old man Lan would like?" The orange lizard looked at all the prizes before nodding his head.

"I think we should get him that muffler. It's going to turn into winter soon," Agumon told his partner. Tai nodded and asked for the light blue muffler, which they put into a bag they had brought. Thanking the digimon running the booth Tai and Agumon walked away from it and continued with exploring the festival. "It seems a lot bigger this year."

"I think it's because there was a cease fire in the wars, just for this day," Tai guessed as they hit the center of town, which doubled as the center of the festival. As they walked the duo noticed all the happy families, children and their digimon going around just having fun this day. "It was as if the war wasn't real." Glazing over the small plaza they stood in, Tai's eyes landed on a large statue of a boy and his digimon partner. From what he had heard from Lan, this statue was erected to commemorate the death of a hero and to symbolize the peace that he was able to bring; even if that peace didn't last more than a few months. The more Tai looked at it, the more he admitted that this hero looked exactly like him. His eyes then drifted over to the digimon behind him, making him scowl a bit. Even the hero's digimon looked like Wargreymon. "And this day is all thanks to him."

Agumon was also looking at the statue, and nodded his head. They may have not known who this person is but the two could respect this person; this Taichi Yagami and his partner Victorygreymon. As Tai's eyes landed on Taichi's sword, his head started to hurt. Gritting his teach in pain, Tai clutched his head. "Tai what's wrong?" Agumon asked him. Tai's breathing become labored as the pain grew more intense. "Tai tell me what's wro..." The words seemed to die out as the pain increased. Tai closed his eyes as he gripped his head. As he did, the boy was surprised to see something in the darkness. It was a soft amber light in the distance. After seeing the light, the pain went away and Tai was breathing normally again. "Tai are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Tai answered. "My head just started to hurt all of a sudden."

"Maybe we should go back home Tai."

"Nah I'll be fine." Tai stood up and dusted himself off. "We should enjoy today. I mean its rare to have such a big occasion occur. Besides we also did promise to bring back food to the kids." Looking down, he saw that Agumon was still giving him funny looks. "I swear Agumon I'm fine. I know you're concerned for me, but I assure you I'm 100% A OK." Tai then gave his partner one his biggest lopsided grins, causing the digimon to roll his eyes.

"Whatever you say Tai." The two then walked down one street, but Tai cast one last look at the sword on the statue. When nothing happened, he just played it off as his imagination. What he didn't see was a soft orange glow appearing around the blade itself.

0

A maid was walking to the princess's bedroom to call both princesses so they can go to the fair. When the maid entered the room, she was surprised to see no one in there. She gasped, and the maid ran to the throne room. Busting open the doors she proclaimed "The princesses have left the castle!"

"What!" the king gasped.

0

Both Kari and Sora were going through the city dressed in...less than spectacular clothing. They didn't want to attract attention to themselves so they changed clothes. They borrowed clothes from a maid who would keep their secret and gotten a plane green dress for Sora and a red one for Hikari. The two even did their hair differently to change themselves. Sora had put her hair in a bun, while Kari braided her own. Following them on the roof tops was Gatomon, to ensure the girls wouldn't get hurt. "I don't think this is such a good idea Hikari," Sora mumbled as they walked through the festival.

"Oh come on Sora! Hasn't there ever been a time where you wished that you weren't part of the royal family. A part of a world like this?" Hikari asked smiling at the older girl, who was like her sister in so many ways. When Sora gave her a worried look, the younger girl smiled. "I promise if things go bad we'll get out of here as soon as possible." Sora looked at Kari for a moment and nodded her head.

"Fine let's go enjoy this little festival." So the two went and played games and bought food. They did have some trouble at first since they had to exchange a gold coin for lower amounts of money. The two were surprised when the person exchanging the money looked at them funny, before giving them the same amount of coins in copper form. Safe to say, they were carrying a rather full sack of copper in their hands. Though each time the girls saw some child or poor person in need of money they gave them a few. This earned them thanks from a lot of people in the town, however they had to walk away before drawing any suspicion to them.

"I have to honestly say," Sora said as she ate some grilled meat and vegetables on a stick, "that I've had so much fun today. I mean I haven't done anything like this since we were kids!"

"Yeah." The two girls kept smiling as the walked through the streets. The made their way to the center of town, in which stood the statue of Hikari's lover. Sora and Hikari stared at it for a couple of seconds, before moving away.

"Are you feeling okay Hikari?" The brunette nodded. Sora knew her friend still hadn't gotten over the death of Taichi, and this day always made her feel saddened. "Why don't we go sit down over there okay," Sora motioned over to a bench not too far from them. When her friend nodded the two went to the bench and sat down. Gatomon landed beside them moments after. Sora took out another stick of food from a wrapper and gave it to the digimon to eat.

"Thanks Sora. I was getting hungry trailing you girls around," the cat licked her lips as she ate the meat. The three sat in silence, giving Hikari time to recollect herself from whatever memories had resurfaced. Sora watched the sky and the numerous flying digimon in them, her mind floating here and there. Finally getting herself together, Hikari got up and smiled at her friends.

"Thanks for letting me just revisit old times right now. The memories are still fresh and..." Hikari tried to thank her friend but was interrupted by a Sora raising her hand up.

"It's okay Hikari. You loved Taichi, and it's still hard getting over his death."

"Yeah, what type of friends would we be if we didn't let you have time to yourself?" Gatomon asked with a smirk. "Now where's that bag of coins? Let's get more food!" The little cat stretched out her muscles and looked at her partner curiously.

"The money is right here," Hikari told them, taking out the small sack. Just as she did, a small grey blur snatched the sack and ran away. The three girls saw a Gazimon (some odd grey dog fused with an ugly rabbit thing) running away, with the bag in between its teeth. "H-Hey give that back!" The Gazimon just turned its head and kept running away.

They then decided to go chase after it, but it seemed to dart in between all the people at the festival, avoiding being seen by the three. "Someone please stop that Gazimon!" Sora shouted, hoping someone would hear their plea. That was when a foot appeared and stepped on the Gazimon's tail. With a yelp of pain, the Gazimon opened it's jaws and released the bag.

"Didn't your mother tell you that you aren't suppose steal from others?" a man's voice asked. That was when the three girls stopped walking and stiffened. A cloaked man bent down and grabbed the bag. He then looked at the Gazimon, "Don't let me catch you doing that again."

"What will you do about it?" Gazimon growled.

"I'll have him burn you," the man pointed at an Agumon standing next to him. The orange lizard smiled, showing off his pointy teeth and a little bit of fire, to intimidate the digimon. The Gazimon gulped and ran away. The man shook his head and turned towards the group. "Here I think this belongs to..." his voice died down when he saw who he was talking to. As for Sora, Gatomon and especially Hikari they froze when they saw the person's face.

"T-Taichi?" Hikari stuttered. Tai for his part was just as surprised not to only see the princess here, but this world's version of Sora.

'_Damn. If I remember right, she's a princess too in this world,'_ Tai thought to himself. He resisted the urge to run to the girls and give them a hug. _'Well, I also guess that this disguise is a bust. How the hell does superman just hide behind a pair of glasses?'_ "Um, Taichi?" Tai feigning ignoring. "Sorry you have the wrong person."

"B-But you look just like him." Hikari looked behind her at the statue of her loved one.

"Oh you mean the hero of the world? Yeah I get that a lot really," Tai scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "It's not the first time it happened too. I mean last year Princess Hikari thought I was that Taichi person too. I swear if her guards didn't go after me I would have probably talked to her." _'Well, that isn't a lie. I would have talked to her but the fact that she sent her guards after me scared me too much.'_

"S-Sorry."

"Uh did you say something?" Tai asked. When Hikari shook her head, he chuckled. "By the way my name is Tai Yagami." Tai paused for a moment, trying to make it look like he was actually thinking about something. "AH! That's another reason mistake me for the hero: our names. Also this is my partner Agumon."

"Hey!" Agumon waved at the girls. Sora smiled at the two boys and waved back.

"My name is Sora Taken-" Sora stopped herself from revealing her real name. "Sora Takeno. This is my friend Hikari Reimei and her partner Gatomon."

"Hi there!" Gatomon greeted them. "Do you mind giving us back our bag? I'm still hungry." Tai and Agumon looked at the boy's hand and laughed nervously.

"Sorry about that," Agumon apologized. "We were caught up in the moment." Tai handed Sora the bag and smiled at them.

"Well, it was nice meeting you three. I hope to see you again," Tai told them. Disappointment was evident in his voice, and Hikari could hear it. As both Tai and Agumon turned to walk away Hikari called out.

"W-wait!" Tai stopped and looked at the girls. "Would you like to go through the festival with us, for a little bit?" Tai flinched when he saw Hikari's hopeful face, and was having a mental war about what to do about this situation. One side of his mind was shouting at him to go with the girls, to hang out with people who at least _looked_ like his old friends and family. On the other hand, the other part of his brain was shouting at him to ignore them and get away as fast a possible. In the end Tai sighed, looking at the double of his Sora for some sort of advice. She had a small smile on her face and seemed like she was asking him to do it, for the younger girl's sake. That was what made up his mind.

"Fine."

"You won't regret it Tai," Sora said leading the group into the crowd.

0

"Is everything in place?"

"Yes, master."

"Good, we will start our plan at noon."

"What about the guard?"

"Don't worry about them, they are too busy looking for the princess at the moment. They won't have anytime to come together to stop us. Now in twenty minutes, we will show the world that we have not died out. That we have not been eradicated by that damned hero. For the glory of Dark Saiba."

0

Tai didn't mind walking along side these two girls, not one bit. Even though they were not his Kari and Sora, these two were surprisingly similar to them. Hikari was just like his sister. She was kind, caring and seemed to be supportive of her friends, if her cheering on Sora trying out different game booths was any evidence. The auburn haired girl was also similar to his Sora. She was competitive, for she kept challenging both Hikari and himself to various booths, but was also protective especially when she saw other people picking on kids they had passed by. Safe to say, Tai felt oddly at home with just these two. He also noted that Agumon and this Gatomon were hitting it off as well. The only thing that did bother him were the longing stares Hikari sent him. She probably saw him as Taichi at times.

"Hey Tai what are you thinking about?" Sora asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. The wild haired boy looked to where his partner, Hikari and Gatomon were getting something that looked like cotton candy. Knowing where he is at the moment, it probably something else. Tai looked at Sora and gave her a lopsided grin, which made her blush.

"Nothing really. It just that you and Hikari remind me of my best friend and sister from where I come from," Tai admitted honestly.

"Really? Who seems like who?"

"You seem like my best friend, while Hikari seems like my sister." Sora's eyes widened. The princess of the sky was so sure that it would be other way around. That she herself would remind him of this sister of his and Hikari remind her of his best friend. She thought that this boy may have a chance to help Hikari.

"I see. I wonder if I could ever meet them." Tai gave a humorless chuckle and shook his head.

"You won't ever get to meet them, since I don't know where they are anymore." When Sora gave him an odd look, Tai sighed. "To be honest it's the other way around. I'm along way from home and don't know where to go. I'm actually looking for a way back home."

"Back home?"

"Don't worry about it. It's not your problem."

"Tai! Sora!" Hikari ran up to them getting their attention. "What are you guys doing just sitting around? We should have fun! Tai come win me something!" Tai laughed and nodded his head. Before he got up though, he grabbed Sora's hand.

"Come with us too." Tai gave her another lopsided smile and the princess couldn't resist smiling back and agreeing. As the three were going to walk back to the digimon partners, Tai's ears could hear a ringing sound in the air. It was very different form the thing that happened back at the statue, but he thought it was familiar. That was when he remembered where it came from. "Get down!" Tai grabbed both girls by the shoulder and hit the floor. When they did several explosions were set off in and around the city. Screams of panic and fear filled the air as the sky began to darken due to large masses. Tai dared to look up and saw various digimon flying around shooting their attacks on the city. "Agumon!"

"Tai!" his partner shouted back a few feet away from him. Tai noted that the orange digimon was protecting Gatomon under his body. Tai helped the girls up as he stood up. He ran to his friend and got helped him up as well. "What's happening Tai?"

"I don't know, but we need to get the girls to safety." He then turned to Sora and Hikari who were shivering in fear. "Girls listen to me, we need to get you to somewhere safe. Where is your home?" Hikari was shaking visibly and with a trembling hand pointed at the castle. "Great..." Tai sighed. "You're both princesses aren't you?" The two girls still shaken up nodded their heads. "Crap, this is going to be hard. Agumon, we need to find some of the knights of this kingdom and fast. The girls may be targeted if we stay out here." When Agumon nodded, Tai grabbed both of the girls' arms and began running towards the large castle.

It was harder than it seemed however, due to everyone running in mass hysteria. Large explosions and roars filled the air, causing Tai some worry. He hasn't been in the kind of situation in years, not since the attack on Odaiba by Myotismon or the Dark Masters. A wide scale attack was not what he was looking for to doing this day. The group reached the halfway point to the castle within minutes. Standing in the now destroyed city center, Tai was able to get a full scope of what had occurred. Several homes were turned to rubble or burning, smoke and ash filled the air, the statue of their hero destroyed, and sickeningly enough, the smell of death filled the air. Tai looked at his two human companions, they looked green and were crying. "Both of you look at me," he commanded them. The two girls didn't seem to hear him so he said it louder. "Look at me." The two girls turned to him and his heart ached. Them crying in fear pulled at his heart. "We are going to make it out of this do you hear me. I'm going to get you back home, safe and sound." When the two girls nodded in reply, he smiled at them.

"What do we have here?" a voice laughed. Tai turned around, and saw a middle aged man fitted with black knight armor with a sword in hand. He had a large brown beard and short crew cut hairdo. Standing next to him were four men with similar looking armor, but had on helmets. Standing behind them were two large human like digimon with chains all over their body, and black leather pants. Metal boots with a skull design were on their feet, and their faces were covered by a metal helmet. Their hair was completely made up of blue flames.

"Skullmeramon," Tai gulped looking at the two. His eyes then landed on the big thing behind all of them. It reminded Tai of a large metallic grim reaper. It was made up of metallic bone from the base of the spine up. The place where the pelvis was supposed to be was some glowing red orb. In the cavity of the chest was another red orb, but it didn't glow. Its hands were detached and were connected to the main body by electricity, and held in between both hands was a scythe, whose blades were made out of energy. Covering the whole thing was a black tattered cloak, with a red inside. "Metalphantomon."

"It seems like you know your digimon well brat," the man laughed. Tai looked at him before glancing back at the girls, slowly positioning himself in between the two groups. The man noticed this and laughed. "Oh? A brave one aren't you. Trying to protect those two girls. It matters not we of Dark Saiba will terminate all of you anyway." When the two girls gasped the man smirked. "Oh so you still remember us. Then let me introduce myself I am sergeant major of the 54th division of Dark Saiba's army, Seth Ganro."

"Look I don't care who you are, if you try to harm these girls, I will put you in a world of hurt," Tai threatened. This had the man laughing.

"What? You threaten us? With what puny power do you intend to beat us with?" The man pointed his sword to Agumon who was standing protectively in front of the girls as well. "That thing? Don't make me laugh! It is but just a rookie. Oh and don't think the knights or Knightmon will come to save you. They are all too busy stopping everything else from happening, or looking for their missing princesses." The man then sighed. "I think I have wasted enough time on a commoner such as yourself. Men kill them all."

When the armored men drew their swords and pointed it at the small group, Tai looked in back of him and gave Agumon a small nod. Tai moved out of the way as Agumon charged a flame into it's mouth. "Pepper breath!" the attack hit one of the guards, lighting him on fire. The man screamed in pain while the others kept advancing.

"Neko Kick!" Gatomon shouted as she performed a jump kick on an enemy in the chest.

"Claw attack!" Agumon ran to the same person and scratched the spot where Gatomon attacked. One of the armored men came up behind Agumon with his sword poised to strike. As he brought it down, Tai had blocked it using a metal poll from one of the destroyed buildings.

"What is wrong with you? Attacking a digimon when they aren't look!" Tai shouted.

"It does not matter. All that matters is victory!" the nameless grunt declared. Tai frowned. Pushing off the guy's sword, Tai slammed the metal poll into the person's gut before hitting him on the back of the neck rendering the guy unconscious. Tai then grabbed the man's sword and saw that two the two digimon were still busy fighting off the other soldier. A scream was heard, forcing Tai to turn around as the remaining guard walked menacingly towards both Hikari and Sora. Dashing forward, he put all his strength into his legs so that he can intercept the man.

Sora had put herself in front of Hikari as the man came forward, his sword pointed at her. She hoped that some knights would appear soon. When the person was only a few feet away, Tai appeared behind him and slashed at the person's back. The villain turned and took a swing at Tai, which he blocked with the sword he stole. The two clashed blades for a few moments, before Tai got the upper hand. Stabbing the man's arm in a place where armor was not present, Tai managed to make him drop the sword. Using the flat side of the blade in his hand, Tai smacked the man on the neck, also rendering him unconscious.

"Got to thank Lan for teaching me how to fight," he whispered to himself. He then looked at Sora and Hikari, "You girls okay?" They nodded and he sighed in relief. That relief did not last long however as Agumon and Gatomon screamed in pain. The group gasped as they saw the two digimon tied up in chains by the Skullmeramon. Seth was clapping his hands as he walked up to the three.

"Splendid! Just splendid!" he praised. "You were able to beat some of my men without break a sweat. How long have been wielding a blade boy?"

"Long enough," Tai replied coldly as he pointed the sword he took from the fallen soldiers at the Sergeant.

"I see, must be rather new to it then. Yet you still beat men who were training to fight for a a couple of years. Now I'm impressed with your skill. Come join me boy, join Dark Saiba."

"I'd rather pass," Tai growled. "I mean I'm not into killing innocent people or digimon."

"Oh my that is just sad then. You would have made a fine addition to our army." Seth drew out his sword and held it in both hands. "Come taste your death on my steel."

Not that Tai was showing it, but he was afraid. He was afraid that he couldn't beat this man, fail to protect the two girls in back of him, that he might lose his partner and above all afraid to die. Licking his lips Tai took a step forward, the sword ready to block any incoming attack. Seth smirked and charged the boy. Tai raised up his blade to block, but was surprised to see the middle aged man duck left.

"Soul Predator!" Metalphantomon slashed his scythe unleashing a torrent of crescent shaped energy towards the two girls. Tai dropped the sword in his hand and ran. Not away from the battle, but towards the two girls. They may only look like the girls in his life and he may only have known them for a few minutes, but he would be damned if those two were to die.

Hikari watched as the energy close in on them. She closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable pain and suffering. There was a large boom, yet she felt no pain. A couple of seconds later, she opened her eyes. What she saw made her feel helpless, sad and heartbroken. Tai stood in front of them, cut up bleeding and a little burned. "Tai..." she whispered. Sora was shocked as well. Seeing as this person who only knew them for a short while was willing to do something like that. Tai then fell to the floor, his breathing slowing down.

"Hahahaha! That's what you get for trying to be a hero kid," Seth laughed. "You only die much faster!" Seth then looked at the girls, before squinting. "My why didn't I notice it earlier. What are two of the princesses doing out here in the open? It doesn't matter anymore. You'll make good hostages." He turned around and commanded the Skullmeramon. "Take them."

"Flame chain!" Both digimon shout out chains and grabbed the two girls and began dragging them towards themselves. "Sir what do we do about the rookie and champion?" One of them asked.

Seth looked at them before turning away. "Delete them."

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AN: So what do you think? Review please! oh and sorry about the cliffhanger. I originally had this chapter longer, but then went...NAH! I'll keep these guys in suspense.


	3. Interlude 1: Kamiya and Yagami

AN: Well this is going to be a really short chapter. I mean only 1000 worlds long or so. Just to give you guys something to read. I'm sorry if Tai seems OOC here.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON OR THEIR CHARACTERS.**

Nothingness, that was all Tai felt he floated in the darkness around him. In the eternal abyss that was the doorway to death. Only time will tell if he would crossover into that plane of existence.

'_Get up...'_ a voice resounded in the former goggle wearing boy's head. Tai did nothing. _'Get up...'_ Tai slowly twitched a finger. _'Get up!'_ This time, Tai groaned in pain. _"Get up!"_

"Five more minutes mom," Tai mumbled.

"_TAI KAMIYA GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP!" _The bushy haired teen eyes flew up open and saw that he was standing in some crystal room, and in the center was a crystal pedestal with a floating orb.

"What the? Where am I?" Tai asked.

'_Standing before god...er...the god of this world at least?'_ the voice told him. _'Really, some people..." _the voice sounded so, exasperated. _'Seriously, I was hoping that the person who was to success me was a bit smarter than I was.'_

"Hey! I'm not that stupid! Also, show yourself!" Tai shouted. "It's hard to talk to someone you can't see you know!" From the orb in the middle a small flash occurred and a ghostly figure walked out. It was a teen boy, who was wearing a whit shirt tunic and grey pants, but what surprised Tai was the person's face. He looked just like Tai.

"Hello Tai Kamiya it is nice to meet you. My name is Taichi Yagami," the ghost introduced himself. Yagami looked at Tai's face and saw the complete horror on his face.

"H-How is this possible! I heard that you were dead!" Tai hollered as he fell to the crystal floor and scooted away from the ghost. The ghost smiled and sighed. Walking towards Tai he spoke.

"I am dead yes. You are talking to me because you are dead too," Yagami explained as he walked closer.

"W-What?"

"You heard me you died. Can't you remember what happened before you 'fell asleep?'" the ghostly boy asked using air quotes on the words fell asleep. Tai racked his brain, trying to remember what happened.

"I was at the festival with Agumon. W-We were having fun and tried to get gifts for the kids back at Lan's place. Then we bumped into Sora and Kari...no, Princess Sora and Princess Hikari. We had more fun then..." Tai stopped, his eyes widening in realization. "The Dark Saiba army attacked. I told Sora and Hikari to go then Metalphantomon hit me with his attack." Tai snapped his head up and stared at Yagami who was looking at him with sorrowful eyes. "Am I really dead?"

"Well...not really," Yagami sighed. "You're in limbo at the moment. Lord Yggdrasil, the god of the world my world: the one you were currently living in, has still need of you."

"Need of me?"

"Yeah." Yagami looked to the side, his eyes glazing over. "War is going to erupt soon. Life as most people no it will be plagued in darkness. Dark Saiba will rise up and try to take over the world again."

"What does that have to do with me?" Yagami turned his head towards Tai and sighed.

"You are my successor. The one who would save this world from what is about to befall it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait up, you want me to go fight in a war, to stop an army of digimon and humans?" Tai asked. His ghostly counterpart nodded. "This is madness! I don't think I'm cut out to be in a war!"

"Yet you don't question that you need to save the world," Yagami rolled his eyes. Crossing his arms over his chest Yagami as he kept speaking. "Tai the thing that you're really scared of doing is killing someone isn't it. I know if you can fight, I've seen you fighting for the past few years as well as in the digital world. You can go into the war and come out victorious. I know killing will be hard for you though, it was for me."

Tai looked down to the floor and his eyes were cast down. "How can I ever kill someone? People's lives are precious, even if they are evil. I d-don't think I can do it."

"Then think about this. Those people are aiming to kill you and your friends. If you can't somehow incapacitate them, they will succeed in doing that."

"You are telling me to take a person's life!"

"I'm telling you to save the world. Not to kill anyone. Yes, in war there is death. Yes, you may have to kill someone, but that is not always the case! You can capture them and lock them away, but at some point you will be forced to take someone's life. Whether you like it or not you will have to do it," Yagami told Tai. Flames were lit in his eyes as he spoke. "I lost several friends while we were fighting in the war. People took their lives, but I also took the lives of my enemies. Those were not my greatest moments Tai Kamiya! When I was alive, each time I went to sleep I saw the faces of the people I killed. The flip side is that I woke up, I saw Hikari's smiling face and those of my friends who were still alive. They were happy to be alive and so was I. I knew then that while killing people was wrong, it helped to know that those I care for were still alive."

When Yagami finished his speech, Tai was looking at him. Sadness, confusion, anger, disgust were all there but something else was there. It was resignation. "I know, I know, I know!" Tai shouted. "I know the feeling of wanting to kill someone! That's how I felt when Sora was taken by Datamon. That's how I felt when Matt betrayed us. That was just anger coursing through me I know. I thought about it sometimes too. We deleted digimon because we knew that they would be reborn in the village. Then I saw that some of the digimon that were reborn, they weren't the same. They were different from their past life, as if they were new people. The ones we knew died. It's almost the same for us humans. When they die, they are lost forever. So I thought about if I did actually go with my feelings of Matt's betrayals and if I did go with me killing him. I would be devastated knowing that I have the blood of my friend on my hand."

Both Tai's were silent for a few minutes. Both contemplating what the other had said. "I will take up your sword," Tai spoke up. "Even if I don't want to fight in some war I will. I just won't kill, or at least try not to." Yagami looked at Tai with a small smile.

"You won't try to change who you are? Not if even means changing the world?" Yagami asked.

"No." Yagami's smile widened as Tai answered. Yagami turned back towards Yggdrasil and there was a flash of orange light. A small beam hit Tai on the chest and threw him back. Landing on his back, the living wild haired teen groaned in pain. "What just hit me?"

"Power," Yagami answered. "The power to fight. Look at whats in your hand." Tai did as what the boy instructed. In it was something that looked like a pocket watch. It was gold all around, but the middle showed circuitry and a blank screen directly in the middle. Instead of numbers on it, there were blackened symbols at all around the screen. Ten in all. However the top one was glowing in orange. The shape surprised Tai: it was the crest of courage.

"What's this?" Tai asked astonished.

"Well, because you lost your digivice Lord Yggdrasil decided to help you out. That is your new digivice as well as your weapon to help in your fight."

"How can I fight with just a medallion like digivice?" This cause Yagami to chuckle.

"It's missing its other half: my sword. Though it may be a bit rusty after two years of disuse."

"What are the other blackened symbols?" Tai asked confused.

"You'll find out as you go along in your journey to stop Dark Saiba." The crystal world began to crack as their conversation ended. "Seems like Yggdrasil thinks its time for you to go back. Beware out there Tai Kamiya, but just so you know I'll be watching you." Tai nodded his head towards Yagami. As the crystal world broke Tai looked directly at Yagami and Yggdrasil next to him.

"I'll try not to do what you told me. I won't try to kill anyone, but I will save this world."

"It's all we ask." With a great shaking, the world was destroyed.

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**AN: Told you it was a short chapter. It's just to give you some perspective here. I don't know when this will get updated again, college starts monday and well yeah, another fucking semester of school. Leave a review**


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